bald marauder

Strictteacher was born from the bowels of a grand piano - a very forbidding and austere looking one no doubt.

Green and Blue seems to be pretty child-friendly too, at least in the daytime. Franklins also served up some tea and cakes on a wet Saturday afternoon to two families with babies, without raising an eyebrow.

And where is the nearest place to recycle/safely dispose of paint cans?

and incomers - oh, they're already mentioned in the form of undesirables from Wandsworth - at least it makes a change from C*****m I suppose...

Haha, Mr Dale, (LOL) a nice turn of phrase!

Ouch! Well and truly landed!! A mischievous way though, EDK, of saying exactly whatever contentious things you like and then playing the 'wind up' card... ;-)

MW74, Do a search for 'strictteacher' and all other postings made by her or featuring her user name will show up - including the piano advert.

Monica, Mrs M and I have about four big, re-usable bags which we use in place of plastic as often as we can (though sadly I can't profess to be totally plastic-free yet, but we do recycle everything religiously and have a wormery - which currently needs more worms - anyone have any to spare?) Glad that I am forgiven for my earlier comments anyway! BM

Gets my vote for the most stereotypical, prejudiced nonsense I've read for a long time. Should baby M express any interest in playing the piano later in life, we will be giving you and your bile a very wide berth.

Steady on Quaywe, A recent thread on the forum suggested that the area where SE22 meets SE15 and SE5 (which would include the Bellenden area) is the best part of our local community to live in. And coming from someone who I assume has traveled here across the globe, I find your 'across the ditch' attitude a little surprising for somewhere that's only 5 minutes from the bottom of Lordship lane.

Haha! Just teasing! ;-)

MW74, are you an agent for the SLP!? That's the second post you've said that in!!

Monica, I am not pro-plastic bags, just that logically and scientifically speaking, there are other more impactful and important things we can do to protect our environment and its natural resources. For example, if one were to sign up to green energy (which I have both at home and at work) this has a huge positive effect on limiting climate change and CO2 emissions. Plastic bags do pose a threat to marine life, but probably a much smaller one in any case than that posed by over-fishing. If you want to do marine life a favour, then stick to MSC-approved sustainable stocks. I am not in any way denigrating the completely valid and worthwhile results achieved by campaigning to reduce/prevent the use of plastic bags, however the danger is that by ruthlessly exorcising plastic bags from their lives, then some people (probably Daily Mail readers) may think that have absolved themselves of any responsibility to do anything else to reduce their impact on the world. Now, others maintain that it is important to give people an 'easy way in' (eg plastic bags) so that they can move on from tackling small things to some of the bigger ones, like energy, transport, etc. But I think it's too early to tell if this approach really works. (And judging by the percentage of people who have signed up to green energy so far it's not encouraging, it looks like we're really going to struggle to hit our 10% by 2010 target.) So, it really wasn't intended as a throw-away comment, just a recognition that the issues are not as simplistic as the media would sometimes have us believe in their desire to sell a paper every day.

If I'm on a bus and haven't had time to get a paper, I appreciate reading one being left by a previous passenger. Particularly the Guardian. Carry on leaving them please!

On those cold winter evenings home delivery is an important indulgence! Much cosier (you don't have to go out and can just salivate in anticipation of the delivery) and more time efficient (you can get housework done/put babies to bed etc while you are waiting). I tend to only go there when Mrs M is away and I can call in directly for a take-away on my way home. It is, undeniably, very good and worth the effort, whenever it's possible.

If only we had the time (or in some cases inclination) to double-check! Ultimately people make their own choices about their sources of information, and are accountable for how that affects them. Unfortunately, other people sometimes suffer as a consequence, ie victims of race-related violence that has been stoked by jingoistic headlines and biased coverage of immigrants/'scroungers'.

That's a big assumption Louisa, and probably for the most part true, but I fear that some rather biased and sensationalised coverage slips through some people's 'crap' detectors...

Now if they only did home delivery... I heard they were thinking about it, but don't know what's happened.

Apparently the proportion of energy represented by food miles varies from 5% to 50% depending on the product and where it's sourced from. Many other factors such as cultivation, harvesting, fertilising. packaging and transport all make up a significant part of a food product's carbon footprint. Food and fuel are the two biggest areas of carbon impact domestically speaking, and limiting your flights can make a huge difference to your individual carbon footprint. Obviously there are lots of 'low-hanging fruit' too such as low-energy light bulbs and avoiding plastic carrier bags, but some of these (such as the bags) do not make as much of an impact as the media would have us believe. At the moment, in the absence of firm guidelines or legislation, it's up to our individual consciences which areas we choose to action in - or not. I also read recently that the distress caused by airport noise to those living directly under a flight path has been given a monetary value (16 pence per flight) as part of a scientific 'well-being' study, so some high-profile law suits may now be in the offing.

Yes, sincerely well done for taking a stand cwald - I'm sorry if my earlier posting sounded cynical - it's just that I was that sad person taking the train to the Lakes for my summer holiday instead of jetting off abroad. But after all the cost and hassle I did wonder if it was really worth it in the end. Still, I know the planet, and my grandchildren, will thank me for it one day. I'm sure you'll be very successful in raising awareness of the issues, will look out for you on the news! BM

Yes David, The Montpelier is no longer. Apparently they have already spent several months refitting the inside - and recently delivered a huge range oven...

Must be more carbon-efficient to educate people via the web and local events, surely? If climate change is to be reduced, particularly the part that is caused by individual travel, it will probably come from making the alternatives more sexy, affordable (it costs more to go by train to the lake district than fly to Spain) and accessible (it takes about twice as long to go by train to the lake district as it does to fly to Spain). BM

Cambellwich We live on Copleston Road, which sounds like it would fall into the area in question, and I can confirm it is indeed a top location. BM

A new thread, about forthcoming local amenities, but rather than start with another 'fresh new gossip' type header, I've decided to dedicate this one to Keef, to compensate for the sausage/numpty incident in the lounge. Anyway, to the point, here goes: 1. A new 'shabby chic' foodie pub will be opening on Choumert road fairly soon, run by the people behind the Royal Oak in Clapham. (Yes, I know it's C*****m, but their other places actually look pretty good.) 2. A new organic/Fairtrade deli (mybayberry.co.uk) will soon be opening on Bellenden Road, open until 7pm to make it easier for people to pop in on their way home. 3. More long-term there has been speculation about a Vietnamese Cafe opening up on Bellenden Road also. Finally the Bellenden Road area is kicking into life... BM

Wow - she really was crazy! *Ooops!*